Writing a thesis paper By Shelley torgnyson IEI Facksprk - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Writing a thesis paper By Shelley torgnyson – IEI – Fackspråk English

1 – Importance of language Lecture 2 – Structure of your Content thesis/language 3 – Building blocks of language 2

Importance of language • The way in which you relay your message Language Skills • Spoken Word correlates to Language Footprint • Written Word Engineers must be able to communicate in a convincing, effective, credible manner both in speaking and in writing with different actors who have different technical knowledge. 3

The Importance of writing Many engineers spend between 1/3 and 1/2 of their work time engaged in technical writing . Examples include: Proposals Technical Reports Regulations Laboratory Reports Manuals Progress Reports Procedures Emails Requests Memos * and much more depending on the company you work for. 4

Importance of language • CARELESS, CONFUSING LANGUAGE CAUSES MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND UNDERMINES CREDIBILITY • POOR STRUCTURE SHOWS LACK OF ABILITY TO FORMULATE IDEAS IN A COHESIVE MANNER 5

Importance of language 1. Who is reading this? 2.What presumptions are you making? 3. What terms will you have to define? 4. How will the language drive your message? 6

Importance of language • What jargon will they know? Not know? • How can I entice them to read further? • Communicate effectively : WRITE WITH YOUR READERS IN MIND • Which English should I use? BE/AE • The global language is English – the better your skills are, the more employable you are! 7

Style and Tone in AcademicWriting

Tone • Refers to the writer’s voice: scholarly, bombastic, ambiguous, rhetorical? • Refers to the perception of a work: bias, attitude, personality • Refers to the register of a work: formal or informal 9

Style: Formal or Informal • When I got my students to think science was wicked cool, their test scores went thru the roof! When I asked for their spin on their improvement, they just said the test felt like a piece of cake to them after I had implemented the new curriculum changes. • When I was able to engage my students and get them interested in science, their test scores improved significantly. I asked a few students why they thought the scores had improved, and they admitted that the test seemed much easier because of the new curriculum. • * Avoid: slang, sms spellings, colloquialisms, cliches, contractions 10

Wordiness and formality Unnecessary doubling of words: • mutual agreement (agreement) • consensus of opinion (consensus) • future prospects (prospects) • Formulaic phrases: • For the purpose of (to) • In view of the fact that (because) • At this point in time (now) 11

Practice: • Researchers looked at the way strain builds up around a fault. • Researchers observed the way strain accumulates around a fault. • The implementation of Computer-Integrated-Manufacturing (CIM) has brought about some serious problems. • The implementation of Computer-Integrated-Manufacturing (CIM) has created some serious problems. 12

Objective! • Scholarly work is work based on fact. (This is why you do research) • Evidence is required for the assertions made. • State your points without bias or emotion. (heartbreaking results, a sickening discovery) • Avoid grand generalizations. (always, never) 13

Reminders: • Style and Tone matters therefore, • be objective • be direct • be formal • be concise 14

INTRODUCTION : METHODS RESULTS STANDARD Motivation, Aims, Research Questions, Delimitations STRUCTURE OF A THESIS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS 15

INTRODUCTION • Establish the importance of the topic • Inform the reader of previous work done on this topic • Inform the reader of gaps in previous work • Clearly state your aim and research questions • Discuss the scope of your work: limitations /delimitations * The Introduction section is in the present simple tense. 16

Introduction: sets the general tone of your thesis • It should make a good impression and convince the reader why the theme is important and why your approach is relevant. • It might be historical in nature, • It might refer to previous research • It might focus on a specific previous text • It might refer to a previous or contemporary event • It may outline a specific problem; a case study or an example 17

Introduction: scope • Defining the scope of a study, i.e., its area (theme, field) and the amount of information to be included. • Narrow the scope so as to clarify and zero in on your thesis question/s • The research question/s can be formulated as one main question with (a few) more specific sub-questions, or in the form of a hypothesis that will be tested. 18

Structure and Tenses • Introduction – present simple tense • Methods (title can vary) – past simple tense • Findings/ Results – past simple • Discussion and conclusion – present simple 19

ExpressingTime -Tenses Present simple tense : Introduction section Things that happen regularly Things that are always true Things that are permanent E.g. GPUs are efficient for certain types of operations. E.g. Many mobile phone providers offer a wide variety of chatting services. 20

PRESENT TENSES SIMPLE PRESENT PRESENT CONTINUOUS Ikea makes furniture. Ikea is making a new product. I study English. I am studying right now. * Steer away from continuous tenses 21

Past tenses SIMPLE PAST PAST CONTINUOUS • I studied last night. • I was studying when they arrived. 22

A SENTENCE: A group of words that are put together in such a way that a complete thought has been expressed. Can be in the form of a statement, question, command etc. LANGUAGE - Structure Grammatical rules apply: subject and verb ( object ) subject and predicate 23

Simple Sentence SkePU provides templates for commonly used patterns in parallel programming. SkePU is being extended for GPU clusters. 24

Ambiguity • ” We can cut down the problems by not targeting the kids, but at the same time we must realize that they won’t disappear . ” • ” They know that kids and teens are the targets; but also, how to adapt new technology around them. • I saw the neighbour wearing my pyjamas. 25

Sentence Fragments • Occur when your sentences do not have: a subject, a verb or a complete idea • Ex. Although Mary was injured (incomplete idea) • Ex. Tom, an electrical engineer (missing what?) • Ex. As many of us do -------------------- Ex. To become an electronics technician ……( incomplete idea) To become an electronics technician , Mark had to complete a two-year apprenticeship. 26

Overly Long Sentences – Run-ons … Ex. Home care has been expanding tremendously over the past few years partly due to recent technological advances that enable assessments and treatments to part of the home setting which at one time could only be performed within the hospital environment. • Home care has expanded tremendously over the past few years. This increase is partly due to recent technological advances that now make more assessments and treatments possible in the home rather than only in the hospital. 27

A Paragraph - A paragraph is a series of sentences that are A well-organized paragraph organized and coherent, and are all supports or develops a single related to a single topic. The three controlling idea, which is expressed parts of a paragraph are: the topic in a sentence called the topic Paragraph sentence , the supporting sentences sentence. and the concluding sentence. Structure The topic sentence states the main point. It can be the first sentence of Supporting sentences – develop a paragraph, or it can be elsewhere the main theme of the paragraph. in the paragraph. Concluding sentence - can paraphrase the topic sentence, come to some sort of summary or conclusion or neatly lead in to the next paragraph. 28

Supporting Sentences • Develops the main theme (topic sentence) • To do this cohesively try these techniques: • repeating key words or phrases, • listing ideas or • chaining ideas 29

Listing with repetition • As I jogged along the river this morning, I thought of all the different roads my friends from school were starting on. I thought of Ruth, who was headed for university in New York, I thought of Max, who was going to be a journalist. I thought of ….. • * Careful – you don’t want too much repetition – just enough to make your point. Use sparingly for best effect 30

Chaining – with references … • The process of learning is essential to our lives. • All higher animals seek it deliberately. • They are inquisitive and they experiment. • * Careful – sometimes the use of too many pronouns in a sentence can lead to confusion. At some point you can refer again to the original topic; in this case ” They ” refers to what??? 31

Concluding sentences • Concluding sentences , can paraphrase the topic sentence, come to some sort of summary or conclusion or neatly lead to the next paragraph. * Always check to see the connections between your paragraphs. Have you used appropriate transition words? Is there a clear flow between the paragraphs? 32